Swim Lessons

Jonathan just wrapped up his second session of swim lessons. He did great once again, although it may be hard to see in this set of pictures. I don't know if it was for my benefit, if he was having a bad day, or if maybe he was not feeling 100%, but you would have thought that we were torturing him by putting him in the pool theses past 2 days!

Right from the start, he was fussing. Thankfully, he was at least still doing what was asked of him.

Back Float

Kicking on his Back

The first couple jumps were really rough. He kept complaining that Mrs. Mary was too far away. After a few jumps though, he was back to his jolly self...just in time for the end of class!

SPLASH!

Swimming with his face in the water

His Favorite - Jumping off the diving board

and swimming to the wall!

Day 2 - same whiny behavior accompanied us to swim lessons!

Funny thing, when you jump in the water whining, you're more likely to swallow too much water!

Mrs. Mary was so patient with him!

I was so frustrated. After listening to him laugh for the last 2 weeks, only to go in to watch and see him be so fussy! I was so disappointed.

It's rough being 4 year old!

Watermelon

Matthew has discovered watermelon!

He pretends to eat the rind, at which point Chris yells, 'Don't eat the green!' He seems to think that little game is hilarious!

Don't Eat the Green!

Eventually he really eats the watermelon. I think he had 6 pieces tonight before we cut him off. Can't wait for that diaper tomorrow!

Sleeping Bag Snuggling

This is how I found the kids this morning:

Snuggling up in Jonathan's sleeping bag

Watching TV

I'm gonna have to get a bigger sleeping bag for them once Matthew sees this!

Shell Beach and Avila Beach

We've been dying to get to the coast this summer, but travelling the 2 hours to the coast with little kids sometimes seems a bit daunting. This weekend our neighbors were headed to the beach, so at the last minute we decided to tag a long.

We'd heard a lot about Shell Beach, so we went in search of it. I think we found it, but it was hard to say, and while it was beautiful, it wasn't quite what we had in mind.

Jonathan explored the 'cave' made by the rocks on the shoreline.

Beautiful!

The beaches here are beautiful, but rather than fulfilling my beach fix, they make me miss the East Coast more.

Carrie and Belle helping with my kids (as usual!)

Chris found a crab and brought it over in his pocket.

Matthew loves the beach!

Looking in the tide pools for anemones and starfish.

Matthew wanted to climb on some rocks, too.

An attempt at a family picture

The best one

Just Jonathan and I

Jonathan, Clara, and I

Matthew was not into sitting still, but then, he never is!

He didn't seem to mind that the water was cold, we couldn't keep him out of it.

Jonathan

Jonathan and Clara

After Shell Beach, we headed just up the street to Avila beach where Matthew gave us some lessons on skim boarding.

Once again we couldn't keep him away from the water. His shorts and jacket were soaked and no longer doing much to keep him warm, so we took them off. Since our decision to go to the beach was last minute, we had forgotten to pack a change of clothes for everyone. In my defense, I didn't think we'd be getting in the water, the Pacific Ocean is always cold!

Once again, water temperature wasn't an issue!

Belle and her friend Maddie helped Clara and Jonathan make a sandcastle.

Clara and Belle

Maddie and Jonathan

Since Matthew had taught Chris how to skim board so well, he thought he'd give it a try!

After just a few tries, he got it...then decided to quit while he was ahead :)

Matthew fell while running from a wave

Clara and Jonathan had fun 'wave surfing'

It was great watching them play.

We finally had to pull them out of the water when their skin was red for being in the cold water. (Check out Jonathan's hands and feet!)

Hard to tell, but the kids and Chris gave Clara a mermaid tail.

She has legs!

We had a great time at the coast today. Thanks to the Coulters for letting us tag along. Can't wait to go back!